ARCHIVED - Spanish PM in Murcia next week to support Corvera airport

Mariano Rajoy is expected to mention the high-speed rail network and the drought when in Murcia

Following the news that the regional government of Murcia has accepted the bid tabled by Aena for the new management contract at the unopened airport in Corvera, a decision which in theory makes it possible for the facility to at last be brought into operation before the end of 2018, it was confirmed on Thursday that Mariano Rajoy, the President of the Spanish government, will travel to Murcia next Wednesday 27th December in order offer his congratulations and support.

Accompanying Sr Rajoy as he presides over an event concerning infrastructures in the Region of Murcia will be Íñigo de la Serna, the Minister for Development, and doubtless reference will also be made to the work which is now under way to bring the long-delayed AVE high-speed rail network into the city of Murcia by means of underground tracks. In addition, there is hope in the agricultural sector that the President may bring a Christmas present in the form of some means of softening the effects of the on-going drought on irrigation farming in the Region.

But the star of the show will almost certainly be Corvera, where after years of stalled initiatives and legal disputes it appears that the prospect of aircraft taking off and landing is now a far less distant one. It has emerged that the compensation which Aena was claiming prior to the tender process for the new contract for the closure of Murcia-San Javier airport has effectively been removed by the terms of the bid which has been accepted by the regional government, leaving the way clear for the necessary permits and licences to be obtained at Corvera and for traffic to be transferred from the shore of the Mar Menor to the new airport alongside the A-30 motorway between Murcia and Cartagena.

Image: Mariano Rajoy addressing an audience earlier this week while the message behind him wishes them a happy Christmas